


High All The Time

by FuckMeGentlyWithAChainsaw



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: AU where ya boys get together before graduation, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Needles, Sophmore Year, cameo by Holster, description of a displaced closed fracture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-09 23:07:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10423842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuckMeGentlyWithAChainsaw/pseuds/FuckMeGentlyWithAChainsaw
Summary: “Hey Jack,” Bitty said, his voice measured and bright.“Hey Bits,” Jack was immediately confused, because Bittle never called when he could text. Jack also hadn’t realized that Bitty had left the Haus. God, how long has he been writing this paper for? “Everything okay?”There was a pause at the other end before he continued, “Well, Jack, I—um I went for a run.”Jack waited for further explanation, which never came “And?” he prompted.Bitty took a deep breath at the other end, “And I fell and my wrist is broken so I could really use a ride to the Emergency Room and please don’t tell the other guys yet.”





	1. Chapter 1

So maybe it was a little late and it was starting to get dark and cold so he stopped paying attention to the road in favor of locking his eyes on some point in the distance and letting it pull him forward. He picked up speed and let Nicki set his pace until suddenly the steady rhythm of his feet hitting the pavement was broken with a surprised shriek. His front foot came down on a patch of ice and slid, his back foot swung forward as he tried to regain his footing. He fell backwards and in that moment he forgot everything he’d ever learned about how to fall. He reached a hand back to catch himself.

His ass hit the pavement with a thump, the ice freezing even through his sweatpants. His wrist ached, but nothing seemed too out of place. He lifted his hand from the pavement to shake it out but instead of flexing the way he wanted it to, it flopped limply onto his thigh. There was a sort of knot jutting out a few inches into his forearm and his hand bent sharply to the right. Well, he thought, that can’t be good. He looked at it in shock for a few moments before a girl ran up behind him.

“That ice is killer, yeah? You okay?” She looked over her shoulder as she passed but didn’t stop.

“Wait,” Bitty called, “Um, actually, I think I could use some help.” The girl quickly turned around.

“What’s….oh.” She said, squatting next to him to examine his wrist. “That’s one hell of a break, dude. Do you have someone who can pick you up?”

Everything still felt a little surreal. He broke his right arm in a bad fall when he was first learning to skate, but it didn’t look like this. Oddly enough, this didn’t seem to hurt as much. Was that normal?

“Hey, dude?” The girl snapped to get his attention.

“Oh, sorry. Yes, I can—yeah.” He shifted a bit to reach his phone in his pocket, unfortunately, his injured wrist shifted with it sending a white hot pain shooting up his arm and he froze immediately. His free hand quickly cupped his wrist and the girl looked on with a pained expression.

“You okay?” Bitty nodded, breathing as the sharp pain settled into the deep ache it had been before. “Why don’t you just hold it steady and you should be good. It’s really broken, obviously, but if you keep it still, it shouldn’t hurt too bad.” He nodded again, looking up at the sky and breathing deeply. Of course this would happen tonight. “Phone’s in your right pocket?”

“Yes ma’am,” the ache was more manageable. So manageable, in fact, that he was starting to dread calling the Haus. He would be chirped to death for sure. He was going to be the first man on earth to be literally chirped to an early grave. She held is phone down so he could press his thumb to the home button and unlock it without letting go of his arm.

“Who do you want to call?” She asked.  
\--------------

“Hey Jack,” Bitty said, his voice measured and bright.

“Hey Bits,” Jack was immediately confused, because Bittle never called when he could text. Jack also hadn’t realized that Bitty had left the Haus. God, how long has he been writing this paper for? “Everything okay?”

There was a pause at the other end before he continued, “Well, Jack, I—um I went for a run.”

Jack waited for further explanation, which never came “And?” he prompted.

Bitty took a deep breath at the other end, “And I fell and my wrist is broken so I could really use a ride to the Emergency Room and please don’t tell the other guys yet.” The words came out in a rush. Jack stood from his desk and looked out of his window for the first time in hours. It was dark already. Shit.

“I’m on my way. Are you okay though? Are you alone?” He crammed his feet into his sneakers and grabbed his hoodie, holding the phone between his shoulder and his ear. He was halfway down the stairs when Bittle finally answered.

“I’m fine, I think, other than the obvious. And no I’m with…um… oh, Anna from the swim team.”

  
“I don't know who that is, but good.” Jack got into his truck and paused for a moment. “Where are you?”

“Right. That’s probably something you need to know. Um, I’m next to the lake, just past the bridge on the school side, not the park side.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I’ll be here,” Bittle said.  
\------  
Jack arrived sooner than Bitty thought he would. His truck pulled up next to where he and Anna were sitting on the side of the road.

“Hey,” Jack said, hopping out of his truck to squat next to them, “How are you doing there, Bits?” He asked looking down at the way he was cradling his arm against his chest, still not totally able to cover the obvious deformity of the break. 

“Just peachy,” Bittle replied, trying to cover his wrist as well as he could when he caught Jack's grimace. He let Jack help him stand and open the passenger door of his truck before he turned back. “Oh, thank you so much for helping me out, Anna.”

The girl shrugged, “not a problem, babe, southern gays gotta look out for each other right?”

“Absolutely and don’t even think you won’t be getting a Pecan pie as soon as I can bake right again.” Bitty let Jack guide him to the passenger seat as Anna set off to finish her run.

It usually took more than a little maneuvering to get himself into the cab of the tall truck when he was actually able to pull himself up. Now? He wasn’t sure where to start. He made two valiant attempts, almost falling backwards the second time when finally, he felt hands on his hips. “Watch your head” was the warning he got as Jack lifted him right into the seat. Bitty thanked his lucky stars that it was dark enough that Jack couldn’t see his face just then.

Jack, of course, stepped in easily on his side. “Seat-belt?” He asked, looking over at Bitty who still had both arms tight to his chest.

“Hon, that is not happening right now.” Bitty made sure to fix Jack with a look that left no room for argument. His wrist was stable where it was and there was nothing that could make him let go of it, not after how much it hurt when it rolled just a little right after he fell.

“I’ll drive carefully then.” Jack conceded.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring a filterless Bitty, a Big Needle, and hand-holding.

Jack stepped out of the room for maybe five minutes. “Holster is bringing your wallet I told him that you would tell him what happened, but he’s probably going to tell Ransom and Lardo probably knows you’re here already somehow so---What is that?” He walked around to look at the contraption Bittle’s hand was stuck in. His fingers were hanging wrapped in some kind of mesh which was hanging from a metal bar and he had a saline bag hanging from his elbow.

“The nurse said it was a Chinese finger trap but really it’s more like 5 Chinese finger traps. It’s supposed to pull my arm bone back down and straighten everything out. And it hurts a lot.”

“You want me to get a nurse?” Jack asked, all polite, appropriate concern for his teammate.

“No, they gave me a shot while you were gone and I kind of feel like that one time I ate one of Shitty’s brownies on accident so I think I’m okay. And thank you for getting Holster to bring my wallet. I should’ve asked you to bring it probably, but it’s kind of late now, right? Also, not to be weird, but you have the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

Jack was used to Bitty rambling and even gesticulating wildly with just one hand while he was trying to multi-task, but this was a little new. It was also very, very cute. “Really?” He asked, unable to help himself, if only for the material he could use to chirp him later, for sure.

Bitty let his head drop back against the thin hospital pillow with a dramatic sign, “the bluest, Jack Zimmerman I swear I get lost in them at least three times a day, that’s how blue they are. You’re just entirely too pretty. It’s not necessary and quite frankly I don’t always appreciate it.”

He said this with the same kind of exasperated expression that he had when the frogs tried to bake or do a keg stand on an empty stomach. Except Bittle wasn’t being a mother-hen, he was complaining, to his face, that he was too pretty. Jack had no idea how to respond to that. Thankfully Bitty turned his attention to his phone relatively soon after, snapping a picture of the contraption his hand was in apparently with the intent of sending it to his mother when he got around to filling her in on the incident in the morning.

Jack’s phone rang not too long after Bittle launched into a tirade against his math professor.

“Hey.”

“Hey, man. I’m outside with Bitty’s wallet,” Holster said. “He’s only allowed to have one person back with him at a time though so you’ll have to come get it or swap with me. I can hang out with him for a while if you need to get back.”

Jack would’ve waited for a natural pause in Bittle’s rant, but he was relatively certain that Holster would be sitting in the ER waiting room for the rest of the night if he did. “Hey,” he interrupted, “Holster is here with your wallet. Do you want him to come back and sit with you or—“

“Nooo,” Bitty whined, immediately, “I want you to stay. I always want you to stay. I mean, if you have to go that’s fine, but I want you to stay forever, okay? But only if you want to stay.”

“Okay, I’ll stay,” Jack assured him, “just, calm down, okay bud? I’m going to go get your wallet and then I’ll be right back.”

\-----

After he returned he listened to Bitty ramble about one thing or another for another hour at least as gravity worked to straighten out his wrist. After a few visits from his nurse, a nice older woman with a kind smile, his doctor finally came in.

“Hey, guys, I’m Natalie, I’m with ortho here. How are you doing there Eric, on a scale from one to ten?”  
Bittle thought for a moment. “Maybe a 4 now, but I have a feelin’ that with whatever you’re about to do it’s not gonna stay that way.”

Natalie offered him an apologetic smile, “probably not, sorry buddy. Is this…” she trailed off looking at him.

“I’m Jack, his friend.” She nodded.

“Okay well Jack and Eric what I want to do is try to manipulate this fracture a bit so see if I can get it lined up a little better but I want to say that looking at your entrance x-rays I’m probably going to end up recommending surgery anyway.”

“Surgery?" Bitty asked, nervously.

“Yes, but don't worry about that now, Eric. it’s pretty common with this kind of thing, minimally invasive, but we can talk about all that after I’ve done what I can do on my own.”

Jack watched as Natalie and the nurse extracted Bittle’s hand from the mesh and laid it gently on the pillow beside him. Then he watched Natalie pull out one of the largest needles he’s ever seen. Bitty had gone quiet as soon as she took it out.

“You okay, Bits?” He asked, scooting his chair closer to the bed. Bittle looked back with wide panicked eyes.

“Umm.”

Natalie spoke first. “Okay I know this all looks scary but I’m going to numb you up first and you won’t feel a thing, but then I’m going to take this and inject some saline to make some room in your arm for me to move the bone enough to get it back where it needs to be. Make sense?” Bittle nodded but didn’t look entirely convinced. “Jack can you talk to him maybe?”

Right, he could do that. Jack reached out and grabbed Bittle’s free hand which was tightly gripping the hospital blanket, he didn’t expect him to grasp back so quickly, or so firmly. “Uh- Did I ever tell you about my first kegster?” Jack asked, and Bitty was looking at him, clearly determined not to concentrate on the absolutely giant needle that was sinking into his wrist. “So I’d gotten a hatty in our first game of the season but I didn’t want to drink so Shitty decided that he’d be my stand-in. Except he didn’t just do the keg-stand, he took every drink I was offered all night. Didn’t turn down a single drink that I passed to him for probably three hours.”

Bitty grimaced when Natalie gingerly picked up his arm and started pushing on the small knot that still stuck out in his forearm, even though his hand was almost straight again. He squeezed Jack’s hand tighter and Jack let him.


	3. Chapter 3

It turns out that squeezing and shifting a closed fracture doesn’t feel all that great. Before the doctor has managed to pull Bitty’s arm back to a reasonable shape he had to call for a break. Natalie pushed her thumb down hard over the protruding bone and Eric all but leaped out of bed. 

“Wait, wait.” He said through a grimace. Natalie gently set his arm down and backed away. Jack had been gracelessly pulled onto the bed during the procedure as the initial meds wore off and was now sitting on the edge of the bed with one arm over his shoulders and the other gently covering the hand that was clawing into his jeans. Bitty had silently tried to power through the rest of the necessary manipulation on his own so that they could both get home. But enough was enough. “I don’t think I’m out of line to ask for more pain killers if we’re going to keep doing this.” 

Natalie quickly agreed, “You’re absolutely not. I’ll get a nurse to come by in a few and then we’ll give it another go once the meds kick in. Alright?” 

He let his head fall back against the bed but didn’t move his hand. With the pain dulling (though not nearly enough) and the haze of the narcotics quickly wearing off, he was suddenly more than aware of how close they were. 

“Bits?” 

“What?” He shifted so he was sitting up, careful not to move his arm, and was silently thrilled when Jack didn’t shift away. 

“I asked how you were holding up? And the Haus wants an update, but I can just tell them you’re fine, if you want.” 

Bittle nodded, considering his options, and decided to go with the one that involved him not recounting his embarrassing fall while he was still in a considerable about of pain. “Well my arm hurts and yes, please tell them I’m fine but—“

Jack cracked a smile, “I’ll do my best to make sure everyone keeps the chirping to a minimum.” 

“Thank you.”

“Until you’re better. Then it’s fair game.” 

Eric groaned, “I guess I can’t ask for much more than that.” 

The nurse came and went and this time Jack was present for the entire ascension of one Eric Bittle to a plane of thought that Shitty would be proud of. It started with Bittle showing him something on his phone and shifting towards him, even though he was already balancing on the edge of the small hospital bed. It escalated when Jack suggested he scoot over and Bitty had, only to firmly tuck himself into his side, pulling the arm still hanging across his shoulders to hang across his chest.


End file.
